The Virgin Valley is a valley in northwest

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and southeast

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

on the

Virgin River The Virgin River is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. states of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. The river is about long.Calculated with Google Maps and Google Earth It was designated Utah's first wild and scenic river in 2009, during the ...

. The Virgin River drains southwest

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

and southeast Nevada; parts of Arizona, especially the

Arizona Strip The Arizona Strip is the part of Arizona lying north of the Colorado River. Despite being larger in area than several U.S. states, the entire region has a population of fewer than 10,000 people. Consisting of northeastern Mohave County and n ...

region drain southwards into the Virgin River and Valley. The Virgin Valley begins as the Virgin River exits the

Virgin River Gorge The Virgin River Gorge, located between St. George, Utah, and Beaver Dam, Arizona, is a long canyon that has been carved out by the Virgin River in northwest Arizona. The Virgin River rises on the Colorado Plateau and created the topography of b ...

between the

Beaver Dam Mountains The Beaver Dam Mountains are a long mountain range located mostly in extreme southwest Washington County, Utah, Washington County, Utah, west of St. George, Utah, St. George, with the south of the range extending into the Arizona Strip. The ran ...

and

Wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

north, and the northeast of the

Virgin Mountains The Virgin Mountains are a mountain range of the northeastern Mojave Desert, located in Clark County, southeastern Nevada and Mohave County, northwestern Arizona. Geography Virgin Peak, at in elevation, is the highest point in the range. The r ...

on the south of the Gorge.

Lake Mead Lake Mead is a reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States. It is located in the states of Nevada and Arizona, east of Las Vegas. It is the largest reservoir in the US in terms of water capacity. ...

on the

extends slightly upstream into the Virgin Valley.

History

The HUMBOLDT COUNTY virgin valley has mines that are rich in

opal Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3 to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6 and 10%. Due to its amorphous property, it is classified as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms ...

s. The opals were discovered in about 1913. The richest mines were owned by

Flora Haines Loughead Flora Haines Loughead (later, Flora Gutierrez; 1855–1943) was an American writer, farmer, and miner from Wisconsin. She became the "Opal Queen" of Virgin Valley. Flora's son, Allan was the founder of American aerospace company the Lockheed Corpo ...

who had been a writer and a farmer but bought a string of claims after being sent to do a story for the

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

. She became known as the "Opal Queen" owning the Rainbow, Stonetree and Bonanza mines and the "Giant Tree" Opal Claim. She sold the latter in about 1918 and concentrated on the Rainbow and Bonanza mines.

Description

The Virgin Valley is about long. Upstream in the valley's northeast, Littlefield, AZ is located at the exit of the ''Virgin River Gorge'', as well as two outfalls from two washes that flow south from the Beaver Dam Mountains. Mesquite, NV is downstream, and on

Interstate 15 in Nevada Interstate 15 (I-15) is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Nevada that begins in Primm, continues through Las Vegas and it crosses the border with Arizona in Mesquite. Within the state, the freeway runs entirely in Clark County ...

, about . Mesquite is the approximate center of the valley. The

South Virgin Mountains The South Virgin Mountains are a smaller mountain range of the eastern Mojave Desert, in Clark County, southeastern Nevada. They are located south of the larger Virgin Mountains range, east of the Virgin River leg of Lake Mead, and west of the Ar ...

are southeast of the Virgin Valley and Mountains, and separate the northern

Overton Arm Lake Mead is a reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States. It is located in the states of Nevada and Arizona, east of Las Vegas. It is the largest reservoir in the US in terms of water capacity. ...

from the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

arm. The area north of the South Virgin Mountains is the

Mormon Mesa Mormon Mesa is a mesa between the Virgin River and the Muddy River in Clark County, southern Nevada. In the south above the confluence of the Muddy and Virgin Rivers, it rises to a height of 1893 feet (577 meters). It extends northward to the f ...

, the southwest border of Virgin Valley. Mormon Mesa is an extension south from the

Mormon Mountains The Mormon Mountains are located in Lincoln and Clark counties in Nevada, between 16 and northwest of Mesquite on I–15 in the Virgin Valley, east of the Meadow Valley Mountains and Meadow Valley and northeast of Moapa Valley.''Overton, Nevada ...

which are separated east from the

Meadow Valley Wash The Meadow Valley Wash is a southern Nevada stream draining the Meadow Watershed that is bordered on three sides by the Great Basin Divide. The wash's Lincoln County head point is in the Wilson Creek Range, and the wash includes two upper conf ...

tributary to north Lake Mead. The Virgin Valley is vertically bisected, north-south by the Nevada-Arizona border. The downstream Nevada half of the valley has the very beginnings of

, about upstream, where the Virgin River used to flow. Littlefield, AZ in the valley's northeastArizona Road and Recreation Atlas, p. 26-27. is located at . Mesquite, NV in the valley's center is located at .

Gallery

File:Virgin Peak from north 2.jpg, Virgin Peak, southwest

from Virgin Valley, south of Mesquite File:Virginrivermap.jpg, watershed File:Virgin River valley below Mesquite 1.jpg, valley downstream of Mesquite

References

External links

{{commonscat, Virgin Valley
Beaver Dam Mountains Wilderness Trail, northeast of Virgin Valley
*Riverside, Arizona
Virgin River Recreation Area, southwest Virgin Valley (on Riverside Road)
Lake Mead Valleys of Arizona Valleys of Nevada Landforms of Mohave County, Arizona Valleys of Clark County, Nevada